USC men’s basketball to play TCU at Staples Center in December

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USC Trojans head coach Andy Enfield in the first half of the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic NCAA basketball game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Staples Center on Friday, Dec. 08, 2017 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

USC’s basketball team will return to Staples Center for a third consecutive season.

The Trojans will play TCU on Dec. 7 as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, organized by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The tripleheader also features Arizona State playing Nevada and New Mexico playing Saint Mary’s.

The pairings were announced Monday.

Last season, USC lost to Oklahoma, 85-83, in the event, unable to stop Trae Young who scored 29 points, and appeared in the inaugural showcase in 2016, first branded as Hoophall LA, where it beat BYU.

“It has provided us with a great opportunity to face high-quality opponents and get national exposure for our team early in the season,” USC coach Andy Enfield said in a statement.

The loss to the Sooners last December proved consequential for the Trojans in March, when they were snubbed from the NCAA tournament. USC, left without a high-profile victory, ended with only two victories over teams selected to the tournament. Oklahoma was among the seven teams on its schedule to make the tournament.

TCU went 21-12 last season and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament when the sixth-seeded Horned Frogs were upset by Syracuse.

The Trojans’ entire non-conference schedule is expected to be released this summer.

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Joey Kaufman is the USC beat writer for the Southern California News Group. Since joining the Orange County Register in 2015, he has also covered Major League Baseball and UCLA athletics. His work has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors and Football Writers Association of America. Kaufman grew up in beautiful downtown Burbank.